Hello People of the World;
It’s Spring! But, what’s this? What is this
witchery?! Rain? In spring!? Bedevilment!! So, here we are, having survived
“THE WORST WINTER EVER!” and with Spring now here and every one pretending they
honor the spring solstice, but you know what that really means: Folks just
complaining about how it is “relatively warmer” now and such nonsense. Geez.
Then, Oh’s-No! LIGHT Snow?! On the very morn of the very first day of spring?!
But since the solstice does not happen until 11:59 or so, it’s really not
spring yet. So, why the f*ck are you complaining?
Yeah, Warm fronts and cold fronts, you’re never
going to control it. The earth turns, folks. That’s how it works.
Well, as you have probably noticed, I have not been
on schedule (pronounced “sedge-ual” for the lay person) with the webpage of
late. The truth is that I do not get around as much as I have been. Most of my
time is spent traveling for work and that leaves precious little time to go out
and observe society to make commentary. Oh well. Looks like I pulled something
together at least, so:
Let’s get this edition started, shall we?
1:[ First
Item of the Month: MY PROFOUND THOUGHTS ON MUSIC
I had a profound thought the other day, while
watching a rerun of “The Lawrence Welk Show”, (Yes, THAT Lawrence Welk Show) a
couple of thoughts, really, when one of the band members got the spotlight to
play a solo piano piece.
One – Lawrence Welk was kind of a jackass to his
talent. He kept mentioning that they only highlighted the guy to fill time.
Seriously, not even the most jaded TV personality would do that.
Professionalism would have made a host go on about the talent of the player and
how they could not wait to feature him solo.
Two – watching the guy play I was astounded at how
much music has integrated into our society and lives. He was playing at this
beautiful, white grand piano and the thought that went through my head was “a
human being invented that piano and had it built for the sole purpose of so we
can play music on it.”
There is a demand for a thing such as a grand
piano. That is how far along we have come as a species. Music is such an
important part of our lives that we continue to manufacture instruments today.
Think about how long human beings have being creating music. From the earliest
of log bashing to today, where we do not even need instruments, but a
high-functioning laptop. Now, imagine the number of instruments built and
played today and think about how many ever since the beginning of the form have
been built, invented all towards the goal of having someone play it in a
melodious sequence.
There is even the written language of music in the
bars and notes that so many can look at and read and play. I cannot imagine it.
Reading music is like reading another language and that we use that music to
communicate emotion is extraordinary. We have come to the point that music has
affected our very genetic make-up. We see how younger and young children are more
musically inclined. Best example is my Char, (who else?) who can pick up a
cello and a guitar and play them both with ease. The other day she surprised me
when she picked up her sister ukulele and strummed a quick tune on it. How
engrained is the need to express ourselves through music that it infuses itself
on our DNA and comes through in our newer generations. We did that. We as a
human species, made music so important that it is now a part of our genetic
make up.
2:[ My Truthfulness Stuffs:
My Useless Self: Ego &
AGE
I do not typically tell people my age. I suppose
ego has something to do with that but in truth, I like being the age I am. I
earned the gray hairs I have. My dad had one vanity that I knew of; he used to
pluck his gray hairs. I thought of doing that, but, much like our scars, our
gray hairs is proof our histories are real. I guess the other reason that I do
not reveal my age is because at my age, I find that I am the eldest person in
the group or room and suddenly everyone starts to defer to me – I am NOT SMART!
So, I would rather not divulge my age rather than shoulder the responsibility
of adding to the conversation when I’d rather sit and listen. I guess if you
look at that I can see how it would be another form of egoism to do so….
Updates from my other Truthfulness Projects:
+ NAMELESS: The Authentic and Magical Ledger Art of EW3
A Treatise on
American Indian Art
“All you care
about is money. This city deserves a better class of artist. And I’m going to
give it to them.”
I am gearing up to get going on this project again.
I think I will move it to actual ledger sheets for the next 100 drawings. I
still see that no one is even coming close to doing something similar to this
project. Of that, I am very proud.
My idea for the NAMELESS: The Authentic and Magical
Ledger Art of EW3 Showing is another thing I do not see happening in the Native
Arts world. I cannot wait to set up such a showing. But of course we always tie
our culture to money. So I do not really see a showing like the one I have
planned gaining any traction.
To quote the great man, ‘It’s not about money. It’s about sending a message…’.
+ The Five Six SEVEN Hypocrisies of Native America:
(Because Seven is a sacred
number):
One thing that was sweeping “Indian Country” was
THE WINTER CHALLENGE: people getting out and videoing themselves diving into a
cold body of water, posting it to YouTube and “tagging” their friends to do the
same, who then have 24 hours to do the same, or elst the world ends, or
something. People would ask me if I would do it if I were tagged by my friends,
to which I replied: I don’t have any friends.
I would not do it anyway – simply because I am NOT
A FOLLOWER.
What I always see is this call for the young to “BE
LEADERS” yet always browbeating them into hive-mind activities like this
fucking nonsense. I am not going to engage in a narcissistic, group-think
exercise to prove that I am part of the hive. How dare you! I am not one to let
your buffoonery infect the youth with your “victimizing” mentality, no matter
how “fun” or “healthy” you make it. You are still trying to get people to think
and act like you. Group Thinks freak me out because that is soooo close to
fascism, like a lot of other groups out there trying to speak for tribes.
Speaking of hypocrisy. (Since I am a hypocrite) How
about this for a challenge for next winter: Instead of making it about you. Get
off your ass next winter and go check on the old people and the poor people in
your community. Make sure they have enough. How about instead of using the
homeless statistics so you can complain about the weather, go out and get that
3 out of 5 that will freeze to death in severe weather and getting them to a
shelter! DO that!
The EW3 WINTER CHALLENGE for 2014: Don’t be an
egotistical assh*le!
NEXT MONTH’S TRUTHFULNESS:
Ego and _____?
Let me know what I should
cover next in my series on Truthfulness.
3:[ More MOVIE TIME ADVENTURES: I have not been to the theaters to see a
current movie since December. The last movie I saw was “The Grandmaster”. I
have not been able to rent anything recently from the Redbox either. Just too
busy or too distracted trying to write this thing to do anything about not
seeing any of the latest flicks out there.
+ “The Incedibles 2” - Sorry, I need to draw a line
in the most important issue facing our country today and I know that I will
meet with ire with this one: There is absolutely NO need for a "The
Incredibles" sequel.
Look, they already learned how to fight as a team,
fighting Syndrome. All a "The Incredibles 2" will be doing is
rehashing the first movie while convoluting the mythology and characters of the
world created in the first film. They all already overcame their original hang
ups and problems and I really don't care that the Underminer appeared at the
end, because it was only to show that life goes on and that they are ready to
face the future as a family, a message that will be ruined by a sequel.
When all we want is the same things over and over, or
the things we like to be referenced, then all we get are reboots, prequels and
remakes that do nothing but dilute artistic expression. Then we cry that
Hollywood makes nothing original anymore or doesn't look to different
storytellers to tell their own stories. So just don't ask for a "The
Incredibles sequel. Sorry. Just as there should have never been a "Cars"
sequel or a "Monsters Inc" prequel, we should let the best of the
Pixar movies lie.
+ People really need to get over the fact that Mel
Gibson is not playing Mad Max anymore…. Really… for all of us…. Here’s another picture of the new Mad Max by the way….
+ Just saw Ron Howard’s “Rush”. It is based on a
true story. Man, did people really give a shit about that nonsense? Weeping
cellos, right on cue, Mister Howard….
4:[ Eddie Bakshi discovered
some lost footage from the old “The Lord of the Rings” animated film his father
Ralph Bakshi produced. I remember this movie when I was a kid. It used to air
on television. I remember adaptations of The Hobbit as well. They made some
cool looking hobbits in those cartoons. I remember an Old Frodo telling the
story of how he lost his finger and that swept us away on this weird, funny,
and chilling cartoon. I think it was the first cartoon I ever saw that was not
fun or funny but dark and kind of “grown up”. I am by no means any kind of a
Tolkien fan. (What’s the term they use?) I know of late that critics and fans
alike have bashed the animated film adaptation, but I still hold a soft spot
for it. Enjoy some very quick deleted scenes in which Gandalf battles the
Balrog and the encounter the Endless Stairs. Very cool…
5:[ Ah yes, settle in Dear
Readers for more of:
Adventures in
the Coffee Shop and/or on the CTA!
+ We should support the dudes that sell candy from
those retail boxes on the train. Think about it. This is the purest form of
capitalism and those that support that doxa should really just buy candy from
those kids on the train and in the street selling candy bars from the
retailer’s box for their football team or whatever. They are supplying a demand
and we should pay cash for their wares. They went out and got the boxes of
candy bars, then are turning around and selling them directly to the public. It
does not matter how they got the candy bars or what they are selling them for.
In a world of capitalism, this is that philosophy in its purest form. I really
cannot see why you would not, especially if you are a supporter of the
capitalist dogma, support these kids on the trains and buses selling candy
bars. I really do not see why you would not at all….
+ So, I was on my way to a HAMLET Production
meeting that never happened when Bob Executive got on the train with me at
Howard. Now, for the better part of the week, CTA has been blaring announcements
and posting signs that on this weekend the red lines will not be stopping at
certain stations due to track maintenance. Now, if a dullard like me can notice
these warnings, so could God’s Gift to the Business World. Right? The driver
was a young man who once he got the train to power and walked out of the
driver’s compartment to get back to the office for something does Bob Executive
get his attention and complains that “When the Purple Line stops in on this
side of the station and there’s no Red line waiting for the passengers…”
The Driver cuts him of with a simple “There is
track work going on.” He said it courteously and soft enough that I thought he
actually said, “There’s a war going on.” He then walks to the office leaving
Bob Executive flustered. I mean, shit, here he was complaining that he couldn’t
catch a train AFTER HE CAUGHT A TRAIN!
So, as we rattled down the line, slowly, to avoid
the workers, Bob Executive hemmed and hawed and shook his head like the world
owed him something. One of the doors failed and it was funny to see people wait
for it to open up before seeing the red “OUT OF ORDER” tags and run to the
other doors. Finally, I get to my stop and who should be getting off at the
same station? Bob Executive. This was one of those special sorts of ass-hats
that always has to have the last word. Not that he got it with the CTA driver,
so he picks a fight with the African-American woman sitting behind him. I
didn’t get his initial remark but it ended with “and next time please close your
mouth.”
The woman did not back down, replying, “I have. And
I DID!”
But the guy before getting off mumbles at her,
“Well, good luck with that.”
He came walking up behind me on the escalator,
pushing by me says “’Scuse me.”
I wanted to trip him…. But that would be wrong.
+ Just now two women get on the train and complain
endlessly about how they were not allowed to attend some workplace or group
party and they were talking about all the things the would have, like, said to
them, because Jo is so, like, whatever. At one point one of them emphatically
states she is not going to talk about it any more and they end up not saying a
thing, not even changing topics for a long while. Actually, this silence lasts
one stop before they are talking about it again. Egos….
6:[ Remember those groups of
old timers that come into the coffee shop to play chess and fist bump each
other I wrote about in earlier editions? They are the most welcoming group of
folks I have ever seen. They just now grabbed a seat for a young
African-American woman that also comes in here so she can join them. She was
going to sit at a table by her self and watch them but one of the old guys grab
a chair and puts it right up to the table they are all sitting at. Just now
another young man asked to join them. They are all cool with it. This makes me
smile and hope that we have a brighter future in this country. Because for all
our talk about the youth and the next generations, it all begins with each and
every one of us, right now. Not, being stuck in the past or being distracted
with the future, but right now, what we all do right now to extend some
kindness and courtesy to one another and it is so cool to see. The group
grows….
7:[ And now Wisdom of the
Sages presents:
“An Ever-growing List of Things That MUST Stop!”
+ You people that cross the street: wait for the signal.
I mean, can’t you wait like five seconds for the walk light to change? How
entitled are you to walking across the street that you cannot even wait a few
seconds to make sure you have the right of way. You can’t even wait FIVE SECONDS
to cross the street?! Come on…
+ The idea of political parties: There should be no
one group that represents you. You should only ever been seen as an
individual….
+ I have stopped posting “IMPORTANT SHIT” on my
Facebook page. Because you would only make trite comments about shit because
you are constantly tickling your ego-ticklies by looking for some morale high ground
that you that you can show up and lord over every one. The real problem with
having a moral high ground is it makes it easier for you to look down on
everyone and every one has a high ground, it means there is no even playing
field. So between the constant “Be Positive But Don’t Write an Opposing Viewpoint
Or I’ll BAN YOU” and this “I’m more in tune with the world than you are
therefore I’m automatically a BETTER PERSON” bullshit, I post mostly nonsense
because in the end, that’s all it is: ego-placating nonsense. Besides, you’re
not that great, because, I was there and I saw what you did….
8:[ So, the other day I
decided to attend an Open Mic event at a place called George’s Ice Cream on
Clark Street. I saw a flyer when I was in there for a Unieros meeting about a
writing group. I thought it would be cool to read my materials or workshop my
newest spoken word piece, so I grabbed a flyer and even made a point of
emailing the contact person. On the day of, I was on my way when I realized
that I had completely forgotten my journal that has my old stuff in it. So, I
immediately went to my notes for “ONE”, the new piece and tried working
something out of that because I was told that there may be children present.
Anyways, I get there on time and while they only had
a mic and speaker set up, there was no one around except a lot of parents and
their tiny kids. I could not read my stuff to tiny kids. So, I pulled out my old
writing group stuff and went through that hoping for a fun thing to read that
was not too heavy. Finally, nearly 40 minutes later, despite a small crowd, a
dude went up to the mic and announce their “first ever” open mic and a young
woman with a ukulele sang a couple of songs. I thought, wow, it is a really
open mic. Then, more people walked in, all of them carrying guitar cases. I
looked at the announcement on the wall, which stated: Join Us for Ice Cream and
Song!
This was NOT on the flyer. I walked into the wrong
kind of Open Mic. So, I stayed for a couple of singers and left after an hour. I
thought it courteous to do so. Besides, I am not a singer-songwriter… …yet….
9:[ From the “This Just In” Department: Scientists
have found the evidence that show rapid expansion of the universe by detecting
gravitational wave signatures from the cosmic microwave background which is
ancient light that pervaded the galaxy some 380,000 years since the Big Bang.
This Article and this one too discuss how this discovery supports the Theory of
Inflation and how the universe can expand so much in such a small amount of
time!
The forefather of the Inflation Theory Physicist
Andrei Linde, who has been studying inflation since the 80’s was surprised when
a member of the discovery team showed up at his home and his first words were
of the evidence that proved the theory correct. You can see video of that here.
It is always cool that we are figuring so much stuff out and yet were are still
so far from knowing everything. As I constantly state, I greedily want to live
an absurdly long life just to see what happens next….
10:[ Last Item of the Month: The fellas from Rifftrax will be returning
to television on April 1 on the National Geographic Channel!! As you all know
because I shout it at your face every time I see you, Mystery Science Theater
3000 is my All-Time Favorite television show. It has informed my humor in the
sense that I riff people’s comments and they look at me with the “What?”
expressions on their faces. It has led me to deeper critical thinking skills
and a wider trivial knowledge in the references they make and made me a better
critic on society, which happens when they “muck about with the culture.” They
have also made me a better filmmaker (true!) in that they make fun of the most
ridiculous movies ever made which has been a great film school of “WHAT NOT TO
DO”. Now, the gang from Rifftrax is returning to television on April 1 to the
National Geographic Channel. This makes me believe that the NATGEO Channel (as
we in the bid-ness call it) might be getting over its Swamp Truckers fixation.
Maybe….
Here is the sample video.
That will do it for this month.
Accept my apologies for the lateness of these
editions these past few months. I really do have a deadline of mid-month for
these. But of late my work has been filling my days with school visits, promo
reel productions and meetings. Add to that my HAMLET Production going full bore
once again, the FNFVF readying for its spring edition, my constant reading,
writing and drawing and my addiction to the CCTV’s production on “Three
Kingdoms” from 2010 that I cannot seem to stop watching (Here’s the first episode!) and you can kind of understand why I struggle with me webpage.
As always, feel free to comment on, correct or
contradict anything you ready here on Wisdom of the Sages. Since it has been so
long since any one has, I will just assume I am right about everything. Okay?
Good.
Oh! Now it’s cold again! What will you do?
Until Next Time, “I try to show the schemers how
pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”
2014 Ernest M. Whiteman III
